Adjustable walkway structure for use as a bridge, stairs, ramp, or the like



Sept. 29, 1964 Filed March 27, 1 961 L. CARTER ADJUSTABLE WALKWAY STRUCTURE FOR USE AS A BRIDGE, STAIRS, RAMP, OR THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 [away (0/ fer INVENTOR.

Sept. 29, 1964 L. CARTER 3,150,742

ADJUSTABLE WALKWAY STRUCTURE FOR USE AS A BRIDGE, STAIRS, RAMP, OR THE LIKE Filed March 27, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 35 Q Wi li. Q mb;- ii

away 1 (o/fer INVENTOR.

Sept. 29, 1964 L. CARTER ADJUSTABLE WA LKWAY STRUCTURE FOR USE AS A BRIDGE, STAIRS, RAMP, OR THE LIKE Filed March 27, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 w my [cm 05f Cor/er INVENTOR Sept. 29, 1964 cARTER I 3,150,742

ADJUSTABLE WALKWAY STRUCTURE FOR USE AS A BRIDGE, STAIRS, RAMP, OR THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed March 27, 1961 Z 01/05 For fer INVENTOR.

Lid/L44 United States Patent 3,150,742 ADJUSTABLE WALKWAY STRUCTURE FOR USE AS A BRIDGE, STAIRS, RAMP, OR THE LIKE Lavoy Carter, 114 Branard, Houston, Tex. Filed Mar. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 98,673 1 Claim. (Cl. 182--93) This invention relates to a walkway and more particularly to a structure which is adapted to be used for a number of diiferent purposes such as a stairway, ramp or bridge and which is easily adjustable for application to any such use.

The invention has for an important object the provision of a walkway structure having parts which may be of different lengths to be assembled to accommodate the structure to different distances to be spanned and having means whereby the angle of the structure may readily be adjusted angularly with reference to the horizontal to fit the conditions of use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a walkway structure of the kind mentioned having beams which may serve as girders for a bridge or ramp or as stringers for a stairway and also having adjustable elements which may be used as stair treads or which may be positioned to form the walkway of a bridge or ramp.

A further object of the invention is the provision in a walkway structure of the type referred to of adjustable means for supporting the structure at a desired angle to the horizontal when the same is used as a stairway or ramp.

Another object of the invention is to provide a walkway structure which is adjustable for use as a stairway, ramp or bridge and having stringers or girder members, whose parts may be of different lengths to allow the same to be assembled for use where different lengths of span are to be accommodated and having tread elements which are adjustable in accordance with the angle or slope of the stringers or to form the tread surface between the girders.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a walkway structure of the kind mentioned made up of component parts which are easily and quickly assembled and adjusted for any of the desired uses to which the device is to be accommodated and which are of simple design and rugged construction and economical manufacture.

The above and other important objects and advantages of the invention may best be understood from the following detailed description, constituting a specification of the same when considered in connection with the annexed drawings, wherein. 7

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the invention showing the same installed for use as a stairway;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

3,150,742 Patented Sept. 29, 1964- FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, side elevational view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the adjustable support element of the invention, showing the manner in which the same is used in supporting a flight of stairs;

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line 77 of FIGURE 6, loking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

' FIGURE 8 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 1 illustrating the manner in which the invention is installed for use as a bridge or ramp.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, the Walkway structure of the invention includes stringers or girders, each of which is formed or upper and lower channel members 10 and 12, which are provided with inturned marginal portions 14 on each of their flanges.

The uppermost flanges of the upper element 10 and the lower member 12 may converge toward the lowermost flanges thereof near the upper and lower ends of the stringer or girder as shown at 16 and 18. At the upper and lower ends of the stringer or girder, the upper and lower members 10 and 12 are attached to brackets 20 and 22 respectively, which are formed with arcuate flanges 24 and 25, respectively, as by means of bolts 26.

The upper and lower members are conveniently connected together with their adjacent ends in substantially abutting relation, by means of a splice plate or connector 15, which may take the form of a channel fitted into the end portions of the members, as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, and suitably secured thereto, as by means of bolts, rivets, or otherwise.

Each of the members 10 and 12 is provided with longitudinally spaced groups of arcuately spaced openings 28 through its web, and with longitudinally spaced openings 20 positioned in radially spaced relation to the openings 28, through which suitable fastening means, such as bolts 32 may be extended for the attachment of tread members 34 to the stringers or girders at suitably spaced intervals longitudinally thereof, such bolts being extended through selected ones of the openings 28 to position the tread members horizontally when the structure is used as a stairway, as shown in FIGURE 1. The tread members 34 are preferably of inverted tray shape, formed of front and rear channels 36 and 38, connected together by end plates, such as that shown at 40 in FIGURE 3, to form a rectangular frame which is covered by a top plate 42. Each girder or stringer is connected at its lower end to a bottom bracket 44 having a vertical web 46, and provided with an upper arcuate flange 48 and a lower flange 50. The lower flange 50 may rest upon and be secured to any desired supporting base such as a concrete slab 52 in which suitable anchoring means, such as J-bolts 54 are positioned. The lower end of the stringer or girder is attached to the arcuate flange 48 by the arcuate flange 24 of the lower bracket 22, which is fitted thereon, the flange 48 being provided with spaced apart openings 56, through which bolts 58 extend, which also extend through openings such as the opening 60 in the flange 24 located to be moved into and out of registration with selected ones of the openings 56. By this means, the stringers or girders may be arranged at any desired angle to the horizontal to extend upwardly in sloping relation to a floor below toward a floor above.

The upper ends of the stringers or girders are each connected to an upper bracket 62 having a vertical web 64, and provided with an arcuate flange 66 and a flange 68.

The arcuate flange 66 is connected to the arcuate flange 24 of the upper bracket 20, in the same manner as the flanges 48 and 25 at the lower end of each stringer or girder are connected together, so that the flange 68 of the upper bracket may be positioned vertically against an upper supporting structure, regardless of the angle at which the stringers or girders extend upwardly from the floor below.

In installing the invention, constructed as described above, the upper and lower brackets 62 and 44 may be anchored in position as shown in FIGURE 1, and the stringers may then be extended between the brackets and connected thereto, so that the stringers extend upwardly in angular relation to the horizontal, whereupon the tread members 34 may be attached to the stringers through the openings and moved into horizontal positions, so that bolts 32 may be extended through certain of the openings 28 and through the end plates of the tread members to hold the tread members at equally vertically spaced positions.

It will be apparent that when the structure is used as a stairway, the stringers may be placed at different angles to the horizontal, and the upper and lower members 10 and 12 extended to accommodate the structure to locations where the floors are at different vertical heights.

When the walkway structure of the invention is to be used as a ramp, the stringers may be erected in the same manner as described above for a stairway, in which case the stringers will usually be positioned at a relatively small angle to the horizontal, such as that shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 1, and the tread members 34 may, in such case, be moved to positions at the same angle to the horizontal as that at which the stringers are positioned, to form a ramp having an upwardly sloping floor instead of individual treads. For this purpose, the stringers may be provided with additional suitably spaced openings in longitudinal alignment with the openings 30 along the length of the stringers, through which the bolts 32 may be extended to hold the tread members positioned at the same angle to the horizontal as that at which the stringers are positioned.

The walkway structure of the invention may also be used as a bridge, as illustrated in FIGURE 8, and when used for this purpose, the girders, formed by the sections 10 and 12, may be connected at their opposite ends to horizontally spaced apart supports, similar to the slab 52, to each of which brackets 44 are anchored in the member previously described, the opposite ends of the girders being attached to the brackets by means of the arcuate flanges 24 and 48, to hold the girders in substantially horizontal positions. When the structure is used as a bridge, the tread members 34 will be positioned horizontally to form the floor of the bridge in the same manner as when the structure is used as a ramp.

The invention also includes adjustable support means, such as that illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7, which may be positioned at a suitable location mediate the ends of the stringers to additionally support the same from the floor below. For this purpose, each of the members It) of the stringers may be provided with an external vertically positioned plate 68, which lies against the outer faces of the inturned marginal portions 14 and is suitably secured to the member, as by means of an inner plate 79, which lies against the inner faces of the inturned marginal portions 14 and through which bolts 72, or other suitable fastening means are extended, which extend through the plate 68. The plate 68 has a lower portion 74 which extends downwardly from the member 10, and to which the upper end of an upright 76 is attached which upright may be formed in upper and lower telescopingly arranged sections 78 and 80, the lower section of which is suitably anchored to a base 82, in the form of a concrete slab, as by means of J-bolts 84. The lower portions 74 of the plate 68 is provided with a group of arcuately arranged openings 86, and a centrally located opening above such arcuately arranged openings through which a bolt 88 is extended, to connect the upper end of the upper section 78 to the plate for angular adjustment relative to the stringer. It will be apparent that the upright may be positioned at any desired angle to the stringer and held in such desired angular relation thereto by inserting a bolt 90 through selected ones of the openings 86 and through an opening in the upper section.

In installing this auxiliary support of the invention, the stringer is placed in position at the desired angle to the horizontal, and the upper and lower sections 78 and of the upright are extended to the necessary height, with the lower end of the upright anchored in the slab 82 and the upper end thereof attached to the plate 68 by the bolt 88, whereupon the sections may be secured together as by means of bolts 92 with the upright in a vertical position and the bolt then inserted through a selected one of the openings 86 and through the upper section 73 to secure the upright to the plate in position to support the stringer from the slab 82 at a location mediate the ends of the stringer.

The invention also includes an adjustable railing structure for each of the stringers or girders as best illustrated in FIGURE 6. Each of the railings comprises longitudinally spaced apart upright posts, such as that shown at 94, each of which may take the form of an angle member, suitably connected at its lower end to the stringer, as by means of a bolt 96, and also connected to the stringer at a location above the bolt 96 as by means of a bolt 98 extended through the post and through a selected one of a group of arcuately spaced openings 10% in the stringer, to hold the posts in a vertically upright position. A suitable rail, such as the tubular rail 102 may be attached to the upper ends of the posts 94 to extend in parallel relation to each of the stringers.

Additional openings, such as that shown at 104, may also be provided in each of the stringers or girders, through which the bolt 98 may be extended through the posts 94 to hold the posts in a position at right angles to the stringer or girder when the structure is used as a bridge or as a ramp.

The upright railing posts 94 may, if desired, be lengthened upwardly for use as hangers to support the stringers from an overhead support in an obvious manner.

It will thus be seen that the invention, constructed and arranged as described above, provides a walkway which may be easily assembled and disassembled, and which is adaptable for use as a stairway, bridge or ramp, the various parts being readily adjustable to allow the structure to be erected with the stringers at various angles to the horizontal, whereby the device may be accommodated to such different uses.

The invention is disclosed herein in connection with certain specific embodiments of the same, but it will be understood that these are intended by way of illustration only and that various changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the different parts within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus shown and described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a walkway structure, spaced apart, parallel stringers each having sections of channel shape in cross-section, each having inturned marginal portions along its flanges and a laterally extending, arcuate, end flange at one end, a bracket for each end flange having an arcuate flange shaped to conform to the shape of and seat on the end flange, means for anchoring each bracket to a support, a connecting element of channel shape slidably inserted longitudinally into the sections with the webs of sections at the other ends of the sections in contact and the web of the element in contact with the webs of the sections and the edges of the flanges of the element in contact with the inner faces of said inturned marginal portions,

a) an outer plate positioned against the outer faces of said inturned marginal portions of one of said sections, an inner plate positioned against the inner faces of said inturned marginal portions of said one of said sections, means for securing the plates together in clamping relation to said inturned marginal portions, means for supporting the plates from a support located beneath the stringers, tread elements extending between the stringers and formed with planar surfaces, and means for connecting the tread elements to the stringers with said surfaces in predetermined angular relation to the stringers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 298,212 Knight May 6, 1884 828,197 Crandall Aug. 7, 1906 963,918 Miller July 12, 1910 6 Carter Jan. 17, Sprague Feb. 3, Millee Feb. 21, Water July 10, Allen Aug. 21, Safir May 24, Cousino Oct. 23, Balogh Jan. 15, Odell Nov. 12, Xanten Jan. 13, Moser Apr. 26, Leverett Mar. 27,

FOREIGN PATENTS Norway June 2, Switzerland July 14, Great Britain Sept. 8, Germany Oct. 8, 

